


The Rage Of Archangel

by HalRose



Series: Mass Effect: The Vakarians [4]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Children, Danger, Destroy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Garrus gets pissed off, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, Minor Character Death, POV First Person, Paragon Shepard (Mass Effect), Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy, Rage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24483946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalRose/pseuds/HalRose
Summary: Commander Shepard, also now known as Commander Vakarian,  is taken hostage and her best friend and lover isn’t too happy when he finds out.Set after ME3
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Series: Mass Effect: The Vakarians [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768630
Comments: 55
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy! Please leave a comment if you can. this is my first multi-chaptered Mass effect fanfiction

**Chapter 1  
Athena**

You ever just wish you could live your life in peace and live it with those you loved?  
It has been ten years since The Reaper War ended. Garrus and I moved to live on the Citadel because we knew that people would still be after us – we got married shortly I gave birth to our son – Demus David Vakarian, named after David Anderson, who gave his life for our cause.  
The man who had always believed in me.

The Genophage Cure had made it possible for Garrus and I to have children, so we had our son, and settled down on the Citadel and worked wherever people needed us.  
About three months ago, I found out Demus was going to be a big brother – I am pregnant with twin girls.

Demus looks like his father and it seems like our children look Turian more than human, but Demus has five fingers on each hand, like a human does and gets picked on for looking like ‘a freak’.  
They shut up when they find out who his Mother is.

Ever since Garrus found out I am pregnant again, he has been taking my workload so I can spend more time with Demus. I think he’s afraid that Demus will think we’re trying to replace him.  
Even though we live on the Citadel, I am still the proud owner of the Normandy and we use it to travel around the Galaxy.  
We still have jobs that need us to be able to use The Normandy and our friends are always there to help us – like Tali, Liara and James Vega, amongst many others.  
Joker finally found love after EDI died. It was hard for him, but he found somebody that loves him for who he is and I am so happy.  
He still is the best pilot I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Demus and I are meeting up with Liara for a drink, and she has some information for a secret mission she’s been doing on my behalf, that Garrus doesn’t know about.  
I’m in bed, daydreaming to myself when I am shaken by a small little Turian – my son.

“Hi buddy, you got dressed all by yourself? I am so proud of you. Auntie Liara is gonna think you look great.”

Demus grins at me and I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I have been ready for a while now, just thinking about the dreams I’ve been having, about the Reaper war… and the children’s screams in my ears.  
Of the dying.  
I can’t think of that, not right now when I am happy an with the people I love.

Demus takes my hand and I get up, going to our kitchen.

“Did you have breakfast yet, Demus?” I ask him.

He shakes his head.

“I was waiting for you. Daddy left this.” Demus holds out a piece of paper and I take it from him

_Dear Mrs Vakarian,  
I love you and I will be back later. Tali has brought something important to my attention and may be a while.  
Dinner tonight, alone??? Joker has volunteered to look after Demus.  
Thinking of you always,  
G.V_

I smile at the note and fold it away, putting it in my dress’ pocket, and looking around the Kitchen.  
I am hungry, and we’re not meeting Liara for another hour, so I make Demus and I some food and we sit at the table.

“Demus… You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” I ask softly, after a swallowing a mouthful of what I’d made – some human food for me, like eggs and bacon, whilst Demon was more accustomed to Turian food.

“Do people hate me because I look weird? Or is it because you’re different to Daddy?” he asks me.

It breaks my heart to hear him ask me those questions. He’s almost ten years old and he’s getting bullied at the local school on the Citadel that was only set up months ago.  
If I could get my hands on the bastards making those comments…

“People just hate people for absolutely no reason whatsoever sometimes, Demus. They’re just jealous. I mean, who else do you know gets an entire family of heroes and their own ship to explore, huh?”

I pull him into a hug when he’s finished eating and we cuddle.

“Don’t let anybody get you down okay? You know we love you very much.” I tell him.

“I love you, Mummy.” He replies.

I’ll never get used to being called ‘Mother’ or ‘Mummy’. It’s… a nice feeling. I never thought I’d be able to conceive, after all I did technically die and was brought back by The Illusive Man, but maybe The Genophage Cure helped me out there too.  
There are so many things I’m thankful for, and I sure as hell would fight to keep my family safe.

I make sure Demus brings his backpack with him, which has a model of the Normandy in it, which he brings wherever he goes, it’s his favourite toy.  
In his backpack I put some Turian chocolate and a few items of food he can snack on if he gets hungry whilst we’re with Liara.

Demus hasn’t seen Liara since he was around six, so he is excited to catch up on things.  
He keeps telling me in great detail all the things he wants to talk about with Liara and about the stories he’s heard.  
I can’t help but laugh, it’s so cute that he’s so excited.

“Hey listen, you might be staying with Uncle Joker tonight, how do you feel about that?” I ask

I cannot begin to describe how happy he is.

“Can I steer the Normandy?”

Oh, how I would like to see my son try. That would be one hell of a story to explain to Garrus if something went wrong.  
I check the time, grabbing my keys.

“We’ll talk about it more on the way to meet Auntie Liara, okay?”

He nods, and takes my hand, leading me through the front door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liara meets up with Shepard and Demus!

**Chapter 2  
Athena (continued)**

“Commander Vakarian, it’s so good to see you.” Liara greeted me with open arms.

I hugged her harder than I’d ever hugged anybody that wasn’t Garrus or Demus. I should explain, when Garrus and I got married, I took his name and asked I be called Commander Vakarian instead of Shepard.  
Admittedly, it took some time to get used to, but some people still call me Commander Shepard, or simply Shepard.  
Everyone in my crew still calls me Shepard, but I actually like Vakarian better - bad past, you see.

I pull away from Liara and she looks at me, smiling. She then sees Demus and holds out a hand to him, to greet him,  
Demus giggles as he shakes her hand.

“Hi Auntie Liara!” He says

“He’s so well mannered, Commander. Unlike somebody I know.”

She means me. I laugh and Demus introduces himself again, like they’ve never met before.  
Demus pulls away and we sit down in a local cafe. Demus pulls out his model of the Normandy, as well as a book as I attend to business with Liara.

I’ve never seen Liara so worried. She tells me she has been tracking certain cargo ships, as well as slave ships as they are still rife in these times and her information that she gets as The Shadow Broker tells her that something is still out there, trying to get money and she wants to find out what she is, with my help.  
I tell Liara that I would love to help, but we have to be careful about it for many reasons – Demus and the fact I am pregnant are two of the reasons, the third is that Garrus doesn’t actually know we’re meeting.

We have our Omni-Tool on us, but Garrus has his disabled whilst he deals with important stuff with the Council and he assumes we’re safe on the Citadel anyway.  
I don’t like lying or deceiving Garrus, but I am so tired of just staying on the sidelines. I am a Commander for gods sake, I want to help with something. I’m pregnant, it’s not like I can’t ever work again.

I ask Liara if she knows who these slave traders work for – she says she has yet to find out.  
We sit there and try to figure out what we should do, we order some non-alcoholic drinks, and Demus asks for a Turian Hot Chocolate, which I order for him.

Liara asks Demus about everything he’s been up to, and they talk like the world is about to end and need to get all the conversations in the world going at once.  
Liara smiles all the while.  
Demus talks about how he’s excited to be a big brother and how he wants to help the galaxy, just like us.

My heart. I never thought I could feel so… warm. I never thought I would have a family after all the ways the galaxy, the universe and fate seemed to fuck with me.  
I never thought I’d ever get what I wanted – I always had to think about other people first and it just feels so good.

When Demus asks what Liara does for a job, she gives a watered-down version of what she does, as she doesn’t want Demus getting any bad ideas.  
Liara looks at me, as if to ask if I’ve taught Demus how to hold a gun – but I tell her I haven’t, Garrus won’t let me and I don’t want to anyway, he’s only ten years old and he shouldn’t need to worry any more, when the big threat of the Reapers is over.  
But still, in our line of work…

We talk about what we should do regarding the slave traders, and I give my opinion.  
I tell Liara that we should track the source of the money, and that will lead us to the root of the problem and we should head on over to sort it out peacefully, if that is an option.

Peace shouldn’t really be an option with slave traders, but it’s to keep the victims safe and out of harms way, so I know I must do what I can to help. I am what’s considered a Paragon after all.  
Which means I am viewed as a model of excellence. 

The drinks come. At first, I don’t think much of them, they didn’t seem to taste right, but Demus likes his Hot Chocolate so I let him drink, and he sits and pulls out a book to read.  
Then the effects of the drink I ordered, hit me.  
I get up, the room was spinning and I called out for Demus, Liara already checking my drink – then, smoke fills the cafe and I could hear Demus scream for me as gunfire breaks out.

Everything goes black, and I hear Liara yelling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER!! I hope you like this so far


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GARRUS TIME, BABY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment?

**Chapter 3  
Garrus**

Let it be known that I hate the Council. The bastards only think about themselves, when so many people are dying and still trying to recover from the Reaper War.  
Tali has been trying to help me with some of their doubts and concerns, but they don’t seem to want to listen to us – which we should have seen coming, I suppose

The call ends, and their faces disappear, leaving us in total silence.

“Well Garrus, I guess we can move onto other areas of concern.” Tali can’t help but laugh, we’d tried for hours to talk to the Council.

Another thing to tick off my list.

I don’t even complain. I’m used to this sort of shit. I’ve learnt to do things my way and the way we used to do things back during the war – that’s how we got shit done, that’s how we got our respect.  
They don’t even listen to my Athena, not after everything she has done for them. She has always been a puppet for their schemes.  
But I won’t take that any more. Things need to get done and I’ll be dammed if they don’t.

Tali reminds me that I need to oversee some new information; there have been reports of slave traders still acting around the galaxy – all after one thing; money.  
Everything seems to be about money nowadays and if we don’t act there will be blood on our hands.

I’ve seen things like this before, even with my own people. Sometimes people do it because they know how to press our buttons…. And sometimes, it works.  
I turn my Omni Tool on again, and let it set itself back up again.  
We go through what we know already – that certain slave ships have been transporting big political figures to force their loved ones into paying up large amounts of money, except after the families give the money, the slave traders disappear and so do the people being held hostage, being forced to work for something… or someone.  
We have no idea who, or why, but that is something we need to find out.

I ask for the time. It feels like we were in that call forever, and I could go for a drink, if I wasn’t so busy doing my work.

“You don’t ever stop, Garrus.” Tali sighs. 

“The whole galaxy doesn’t seem to stop with the same old shit, Tali. Somebody has to do this job.”

I’ve never really been that much of a leader, My Athena has been more suited to that job. We’d talked about retirement, but the universe needed us, so that never happened, and now we had our family to think about. We have a home, a life together.

I admit that I haven’t exactly had the best of times – with rejecting the idea of becoming a Spectre, to becoming Archangel… my work never seems to stop.  
My mind goes back to when I watched Palaven burn before my very eyes – it had been over ten years and still those memories haunt me.   
I’ll never forget the conversation I had with my Father and Sister after that, when they finally got in contact with me. I told them I couldn’t come back to Palaven – not when Athena couldn’t live there. She could with her suit, but… we wanted somewhere we could both live in peace, somewhere where all our friends were, where our memories were…

And that’s how we ended up back on the Citadel. We’d helped it grow, seen it rebuilt and still people seemed to drag us through the mud, after everything we’d ever done for the Galaxy.  
My sister would come to visit us sometimes, but my Father’s priorities were with Palaven, so our relationship became strained.

I’m shaken by Tali, and I realise I must have been daydreaming again.  
I notice there are people running around, scared. Others are trying to stop whoever is coming in to the building… and I hear wailing.

“Who the hell is that? What’s going on?” I ask.

Tali doesn’t even answer – I cannot see her face, but her body language tells me she is terrified.  
And then I realise who is wailing.

I start running, and Liara comes through the door, followed by Demus.  
Athena isn’t with them.

“Demus? Liara? Where’s Athena?” I ask.

“They took Mummy!!” Demus wailed, and I console my son.  
I look to Liara for answers.

She tells me everything that has happened.

They’ve targeted my wife. My family and now they are going to pay. I can feel the rage bubbling up inside of me.  
I should have seen this coming… all the signs were there. They could have took my son but he’s safe and Shepard is gone… my world is falling apart.  
If they hurt her…

If they hurt her, they will die by my hands. I will make sure they remember the name of Garrus Vakarian.

“We need to find out where they’ve taken her, if they’ve taken her by ship then I’m sure Joker can track them, he’ll have noticed something, right?” I ask.

“Let’s get to the Normandy. We can figure out a plan there, and find where they’re going.” Tali states, to which Liara agrees

“Get me Miranda Lawson, she can help us.” I order as we walk towards the Normandy, I’m power-walking so people move out of my way – they know not to mess with an angry Turian.

Demus is not far behind me, he will have to come with us as there is nobody to babysit him. But I will keep him safe if it’s the last thing I do.  
Demus tells me everything that has happened, with Liara revealing why they had met up in the first place.  
She was only trying to help, so I can’t be mad at Liara… but if Athena had told me what she had been planning, then maybe this could have been avoided,

I slam a wine bottle against the wall when we get to the Normandy and Demus is taken to Tali’s room, where she will occupy him.  
I need to know everything, to understand what has been going on and why they would even think of considering kidnapping Commander Vakarian, or rather, Shepard.

“I’ve never seen you so angry, Garrus.” Liara states.  
She sounds like she is afraid of me.

“I can’t lose her again Liara, I just… I just can’t.” My voice betrays me and I hate myself for it – I’m angry but I’m falling apart and trying to be strong at the same time.

“We’ll get her back. You know we will.”

I can only hope so.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back with Shepard/ Commander Vakarian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rather short chapter, I apologise

**Chapter 4  
Athena**

My head is pounding as I wake up.  
I was groggy, before realising the situation I was in and I frantically tried to escape my bonds, looking around for my son.  
Demus wasn’t here. Neither was Liara.

“Demus? Demus!?” I call out, and find myself in what looks like a cargo hold. I’m all alone… until two figures walk in.

They are wearing armour – with the Cerberus logo on the front.  
I had made sure they’d all fucking died when the Illusive Man did. I’d seen them disbanded and the others who wouldn’t give themselves in, I had to execute.  
I did what was best for everyone… I wanted to help them… but they didn’t want my help.  
And now here they are, in front of me.

“Commander Shepard… or Vakarian now, is it?” One of them scoffs, crossing their arms “You just had to marry that Turian bastard didn’t you?”

“That ‘Turian bastard’ you’re speaking of is Garrus Vakarian, the best sniper and mercenary in the galaxy. He will come for you, and you’ll be lucky if he decides to spare you.” I snarl.

I get punched in the face, and am knocked sideways. 

There is a woman, short haired, looks like Jack except without all the tattoos. 

“She’ll net us a lot of money… but I wonder what will happen if we harm that pretty face of hers?” she says, raising her boot to slam it down on my knee.

I do not scream – I’ve had worse injuries than this. 

“Do not harm her. She’s pregnant, do you know how much a pregnant hostage is worth? Especially if it’s Commander Shepard?” The man reprimands the woman, and I don’t ask for their names – I do not give a shit.

All I can picture in my head is the ways I will rip these motherfuckers to shreds when I am given the chance, and how when Garrus finds me, he will tear them limb from limb and blast their heads apart to give them what they deserve.  
It’s obvious that they need money, and they want money – but what for?

“Who do you work for?” I ask after the pain has died down – I am checked over by a medic that comes in and they tell me that I and the twins are fine.  
I am glad.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” is all I am told.

I ask where they are taking me, and I do not get an answer. But I guess I will find out.  
I gather that we are on a spaceship, but it’s got nothing on my Normandy. It’s an ugly thing compared to the Normandy’s majestic beauty.  
If we’ve only just set off from the Citadel, then the Normandy can still trace and find me, unless the ship has gone off the radar.

Demus must be with Liara back on the Citadel, I’m sure they would have alerted Garrus by now.   
I hope they’re safe and they haven’t been hurt.

I try and get out of my bonds, but they are tight. 

“We don’t want you escaping, now do we?” The woman speaks, like she is mocking me. “I’ll stomp on your other kneecap if you even think about escaping.”

“When I get out of my bonds, and when I get a gun, oh you’ll be sorry. You’ll learn why you shouldn’t mess with this Commander.” I spit angrily

The two Cerberus agents leave, smiling to each other when a voice calls them back to their stations and informs them that someone is the way to talk to me.

And in walks another woman… if you could even call her that.

“You can’t be… I saw you die..” I say loudly, horrified.

“Hello, Shepard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAKING GUESSES AT WHO THE WOMAN IS :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus and Demus have a talk

**Chapter 5  
Garrus**

Tali gets Miranda on the ship's quantum entanglement based communications array and I bring her up to speed on what has happened – she wants to know everything and vows to help us, asking for us to pick her up because she’s on Earth, in London with her sister.  
We haven’t seen her in years, since the end of the Reaper War and so there will be a lot to catch up on.

I can’t help but worry about Athena – I have no idea what they’ll do to her…but she probably knows I’m on my way to find her again.  
Tali doesn’t understand why I’m worried – Athena has proven herself time and time again that she can handle herself, but at the same time she has died almost twice already, and I don’t know how much more I can handle.

We’ve all been through some tough shit, and we’ve all got scars, but I need to make sure my family is safe.  
I have to make sure Demus isn’t afraid, and we will get his Mother back.

After the call with Miranda, I make my way to where Demus is playing. He knows every room of the ship off by heart and is happily talking to himself about each room and where every adult works and who goes where. He knows everything, and it makes me laugh.

“I bet your mini Normandy has got nothing on the real thing, right Demus?” I cross my arms and stand in the doorway, smiling down at my son.

“Daddy!” He places his mini Normandy toy on the floor, next to his backpack and comes over to me, so I uncross my arms and pick him up with ease.

“You alright, son?” I ask

Demus nods and asks me how we’re going to get Athena back. I leave out the gory details of what I’m going to do to the bastards, but I tell him honestly, that we are going to rescue his Mother.   
I tell him about some of the adventures we were on before he was born, and I tell him how his Mother has always returned home safe, and she has us so we’ll make sure she’s okay, and that seems to settle him down.

“It was scary, Daddy.” Demus says, referring to what went down at the cafe they met at.  
Liara had grabbed the news footage and showed it to me – I could see Liara grab Demus as clear as day, before the smoke took hold and we saw two armoured men or women. Or both, grab Athena.  
I’ll never forgive myself for having my Omni Tool turned off.

“I know, and I promise you it will never happen again.” I tell him. “You’re going to have to behave, because I need to do some important business with Liara, Tali and our friend Miranda who you will meet, so I need you to be good, okay?”

He nods, telling me he understands and he hugs me… and it feels so good.

I carry Demus into the cabin that Shepard and I share, and sit Demus down on the bed.  
He looks around him, pointing out that someone has still been feeding the fish in the fish tank, who are thriving.  
He’s just a bundle of joy and a ray of hope whenever things get dark and I love him so much, he’s everything to me.

Demus falls silent, as if he’s struggling to find something to say and I wonder what is going through his mind. He was laughing a minute ago, and now he seems to be putting on a brave face.  
I know he’s worried, I am too… but I have to be strong, for the both of us.

“Daddy?” Demus asks after a long silence

“Yes, Demus?” I ask softly.

All too seriously, he turns his head, and what comes out his mouth alarms me.

“When you destroy those who took Mummy, can I help?”

I have to stop and try and process what he’s just asked me. He’s almost ten years old and this is what he’s asked me?  
He knows about our jobs and what we do, he knows how dangerous it is.  
But a child on the battlefield? I promised Athena we would never get Demus involved.  
I have to explain to Demus that he cannot join me, because it is too risky, but he asks again if I’ll destroy our enemies.

There is no doubt about it, I WILL destroy our enemies, every single one of them – I will rip them limb from limb as their last words are “Archangel” and “Garrus Vakarian.” and I will be the last thing they see, before I pull the trigger and splatter them across the walls or floor.  
They should know not to mess with Commander Shepard/ Vakarian and her crew. She has allies and people should know of my rage, of how ruthless I can be when I want to be,  
I am Archangel, and Archangel is a part of me.  
Archangel will always be me, and I will never shake off that part of my life… but this time, it may come in handy.

The thought of Athena being in the hands of one of our greatest enemies, is making me fear what we may find.  
Who the hell took her? Why?  
I need to find this stuff out, and quickly, before it’s too late.

“Demus David Vakarian, you were named after one of the bravest men in the galaxy, but I promise you that your Mother will return unharmed. Your old Dad knows how to deal with the bad guys.” I say, teasing him slightly.

Demus hugs me again and Demus runs to get his backpack, pulling out some Turian chocolate from his bag.

“Want some?” he asks innocently, like the whole conversation we just had, never happened

I laugh and go to take some, but I don’t have the chance to eat it.

Over the Normandy’s communications, Joker asks for me. I wonder what he needs me for. I put the chocolate on the table, wiping my hands.

“Stay here.” I tell Demus, using my Omni Tool to contact Liara who is all too happy to look after Demus.

I leave him in her capable hands and head to the cockpit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love and support


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus talks to Miranda, who brings along a familiar face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SECOND CHAPTER TODAY, BABY. ENJOY

**Chapter 6  
Garrus (continued)**

Earth is on fire. The planet used to be masses of green land amongst the depths of a watery grave. The land is now black and ruined; ravaged by something that has obliterated them.

And Miranda is down there, in London. 

There are ships and various debris of other ships that don’t work, floating in space, like the ships are an army at the ready and have been partially decimated.  
Earth wasn’t in a great place when Shepard was arrested just as the Reapers hit the planet.  
Nobody would listen to her when she was telling them what they should do – they only cared about themselves.  
It looks like they’ve been getting no aid from other planets and from the Citadel, and this might be where the Slave Traders have been getting their work from.

“Fucking hell, Garrus. We’re supposed to navigate through all of this?” Jeff ‘Joker’ Moreau asks, not believing what he is seeing.

“You’ve navigated through worse, and you know it.” I reply.

Joker doesn’t even respond to that, but asks where Miranda said she’ll be and so I tell him where to go.

I greet Miranda , who looks like she’s been through some shit, and asks to bring her sister aboard too, I’m fine with it and clear it with the others, and then the both of them are allowed on.  
Miranda tells me everything that has been happening with Earth – Cerberus is on the rise again, but they’re being helped out by an unknown ally. 

Miranda tells me she’s been trying to track down the leaders, but every time she tried to interrogate someone, their faces explode due to pills they’ve taken that cause them to commit suicide violently.  
I tell her what I’ve already told her, when Oriana tells me that if Athena had been brought to Earth, they would have known about it, because you can’t exactly kidnap Commander Shepard/ Vakarian and get away with it that easily.

Joker takes us off Earth and we get away from the planet, going somewhere safe where nobody can spot us and we can plan our next move.

I show the Lawson sisters the footage that Liara showed me from the Citadel news, and Miranda immediately wants a closer look.  
She doesn’t ask about Liara or Demus, but focuses on Athena.

She zooms in on the figures that take her.

“They’re wearing Cerberus armour. Do you know where they went?”

“No. You know Cerberus better than anyone I know, so I was hoping you could help us track Athena. There’s something you need to know, she’s pregnant.”

“How?” Miranda asks.

I explain the while Genophage Cure thing to her, and she understands. On the footage, Oriana points to the small Turian by Liara.

“Who’s that?” Oriana asks me, innocently and curiously.

“Our son, Demus. I had to bring him with us, with what happened, I couldn’t find anybody that would babysit him. He’s in the cabin that I share with the Commander, Tali and Liara seem to switch shifts on watching him.” I tell them seriously.  
Miranda laughs, but she seems so happy for me, and congratulates me, before getting back to business.

“If Demus stays on the ship, he’ll be safe. But we need to track where these people went with Shepard – or should I say Vakarian now? I’ve heard she’s taken your name.”

“She has.” I tell Miranda “But that’s not important right now, what IS important is that we track the bastards before they harm the Commander.”

“Its been over ten years since you last saw Miranda. You’ll have to catch up after we’re done rescuing Athena” Oriana adds, revealing that she a gun on her.

Miranda tells me how Oriana asked her to train her to use weapons to defend herself, and how Oriana has been helping her take down Cerberus agents left and right.

“It can’t be The Illusive Man that has taken the Commander, so do you have any idea who they may be working for?”

“Just ‘cause The Illusive Man died, doesn’t make him dead. Just look at Shepard.” I bring up a sore subject but I’m arguing that anything is possible.

“If the Illusive Man was alive, we’d know about it – he was being controlled by the Reapers before he died.” Miranda tells me.

I’d heard about all of this from Athena. I knew everything about what has been going on.

“Let’s say The Illusive Man is dead, do you know of anybody that could possibly take the leadership of Cerberus from him? Ex-Cerberus members, maybe?”

Miranda starts to think. Oriana has no idea, so she looks to her sister.

We have to think of something soon, every minute we waste here, another second that Athena is pulled further and further away from us.

“Do you think… that Cerberus Headquarters might be in use again?” Miranda asks, fearfully.

We both look at each other like we’ve opened up a fresh wound. There is only one way to find out, and that’s by going to the Headquarters.  
I go silent, my head full of different scenarios of how we’ll find Athena, of what they’re going to do and I get so angry – they can see it on my face.  
Oriana takes a step back, and Miranda tells her that everything is going to be okay.

But things really aren’t okay. Things are getting serious. If I try and contact Athena on the Omni Tool, they’ll be able to get in contact with us and we’ll know everything about them, but they’ll know everything about us.   
I can’t risk her getting hurt.

I slam my fists down on the table.

“I’m going to murder those bastards.” I say, meaning every single word.

“I know you will, Garrus. I have no doubts. But you won’t be going in alone.” Miranda puts a hand on my shoulder “You’ll have me, you’ll have Tali and Liara and Oriana. We’ll figure something out.”

I look to her, and I know then that I will get my revenge, for sure. 

Oriana points out that Athena wasn’t wearing armour when she was captured, so we’re going to have to be careful about where our gunfire ends up.  
We cannot harm her.  
We can harm everyone else, but we have to make sure Athena stays safe.  
Because they’ll know what I’ll do if she’s hurt. 

They all know what I’m capable of.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liara has a turn to talk about what's going on, when she discovers something

**Chapter 7  
Liara**

Garrus is a good person, and an excellent father and friend. I’ve fought alongside him., I’ve seen what the Commander has seen, been where she has been and been in his shoes… I know what it’s like to have everything you hold dear, dangling on a thread in front of your face as those who dare mess with you, to hurt those you love.

And now he has everything somebody could ever want in life – a home, a fairly peaceful life now that the Reaper War is over, he has a family and I’ve never seen him so happy… but people have messed with him and crossed the line and they need to pay.

I’m looking over my dossiers as Demus reaches for a book to read; I’m trying to find out anything that stands out in my information I’ve been receiving as the Shadow Broker.  
Something didn’t seem right about this whole situation – something seems to be escaping our attention.

That’s when I remember her. I remember what she did on the Citadel just before Shepard saved the galaxy from the Reapers and ended the war – we had met her before… and we had watched her be put into custody, when Shepard could have shot her dead.  
Maya Brooks is the only one that could be behind all this – the Illusive Man is out of the question, he was dealt with and his body destroyed by the Reapers who had a hold on him.

There has been activity around the galaxy, talks of someone who uses aliases regularly, someone who used to be ex-Cerberus, who always wanted to be the leader in the first place.  
I had overlooked this at first, Maya had been taken into custody and we never heard from her again… but what if she had broken out?  
There was nothing in my information that said she had escaped, nothing that said she had been released, but maybe in the chaos of the events that followed after the end of the war, she had used that time to get out?

There are so many possibilities. I’d heard that Maya Brooks had left Cerberus because she didn’t like the way that the Illusive Man was running things… but with the Illusive Man out of the question, leadership of the terrorist group was up for grabs.  
She could do whatever she wanted… the way she wanted. But Shepard had been told she’d died.

It had to be a lie. She was obviously lied to, there is no other person that would take over Cerberus.  
It had to be someone who knew what they were doing. Nobody else would have that much power and influence and waste it; if it had been someone else, then we wouldn’t have heard about them – sloppy jobs and all.

But this was cold, calculated...and Shepard wouldn’t be the last to be captured, If that was the case.

I try looking for information about why someone would want to take Shepard, but it’s painfully obvious why.  
A Commander would fetch a hefty sum of money, and they had the tech to make more clones of her. Imagine a world where hundreds of renegade Shepards were loose.  
It would be hell, but one clever way to get the universe to bend to your every whim.

I look through endless amount of information which seems to only confirm my deepest fears

Trying to stay calm, I tell Demus I will be right back, and leave the room – frantically calling Garrus on my Omni Tool.

“Liara, what’s wrong? Did you find something about that we could use?” Garrus’ voice is clear as day, and loud.

“It’s Shepard. I know who took her. There’s only one person I know who could pull something like this.”

“Really, who?” Garrus almost demands an answer, which is understandable as he is on edge.

“Do you remember Maya Brooks?” I ask him.

There is total silence and I have no idea what Garrus will say next, but I cannot leave Demus on his own, so I step back into the cabin, which I probably shouldn’t have done, as Garrus yells a few obscenities.  
He never forgets somebody who has pissed off Shepard, he never forgets those who messes with her. He remembers her.

“Are you sure it’s her?”

“I can show you what I’ve found, but yes. It’s got to be her. I’m on my way.”

Tali comes in with some food for Demus, and I tell her everything , Tali says she’ll look after Demus again and I go to Garrus, but the last thing I hear as I leave is Demus, asking Tali a question.

“Mummy is in trouble, isn’t she?”

The poor child. We have to do something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, when I first started writing this fanfic, I thought it would be a short thing. The end is nowhere in sight


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back with Commander Shepard and Maya Brooks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really hard to write, so I apologise that it has taken a couple of days

**Chapter 8  
Athena **

Maya Brooks. The bitch is back, and hell bent on revenge. She tells me about how she survived – she had been taken into custody in a high-security prison, but when the Citadel and their allies averted their eyes elsewhere, her goons swooped in and busted her out and they’ve been working to make Cerberus in Maya’s own design ever since.  
I’d seen footage of her death. I was then told that had been faked – a trick she has used before.

In order to keep giving people the slip, she’d been using her aliases and recruiting people to her cause.

She keeps looking at me, watching me and laughing as I take all this information in. She’s hiding something.

“So, you wanted to get revenge. I understand that, a lot of people want revenge against me. What I don’t understand is why you’ve been kidnapping people and selling them into slavery. What or who needs those slaves?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t exactly call them slaves…” Maya replies honestly, chuckling evilly. “More like, lab rats…”

I feel sick at the thought of what she has been putting people through. It’s disgusting and I know I am in danger, but I cannot do a thing,  
She puts Medi-Gel on my kneecaps, which takes away my pain and she drags me to my feet.

“What are you doing? What have you been doing to those you capture!?” I demand to know.

I don’t get an answer at first, about what Maya has been up to, but I am told that we’ve arrived at our destination. I am told to put on a space suit with the Cerberus logo on, and so I am let go out of my bonds.  
I briefly consider trying to run, but there is nowhere for me to go and I cannot put myself at risk, for the sake of the twins

My Omni-Tool is disabled so I cannot be tracked, and Maya forces me into the suit.  
I had promised myself I would never wear any Cerberus logo ever again, not after what they had made me do in the time I had been forced to co-operate with them.

The minute I find a gun, I will fight my way out of here and I’ll make my way home to Garrus and to Demus.

I find out that Cerberus Headquarters is intact – and the Illusive Man’s base is still standing and I know that Maya has took it over, placing her above everybody else.  
She wants that power.

I try to stay calm, but I am angry. 

What is she planning and how many families has she torn apart?

I look at what I can see before me – labs after lab, with battlegrounds for testing, and beyond that, the throne of the Illusive Man lay after that, where he could watch what has happening.. where Maya could watch what went on.

“Do you want to know why you’re the perfect lab rat?” Maya asks, folding her arms.

I fear I already know the answer.

“Your Clone may have been destroyed, but we can simply rebuild her, make her more… tyrannical. Make her into what she needs to be… and use her to get what I want. I wonder who we’ll fool… She’ll look like you, talk like you… the only difference being that she isn’t really the real you.”

“My friends and family won’t fall for that bullshit!” I try to swing for her, but she twists my arm and gets me to stop.

She knows I can’t run. She knows this and is using it against me – she’s getting me angry, telling me everything because I can’t escape.  
She tells me how all the other people have become lab rats… experiments to see if they can become super-soldiers… some have succeeded and some haven’t.

“They won’t be able to tell it’s the real you, trust me.” Maya says confidently.

“You keep telling yourself all those lies to make you sleep better at night.” I say, disgusted at her.

“With the Illusive Man dead, Cerberus needed a new leader and someone to guide them into a new era, a better life where we can thrive. So I came back, and I intend to stay.”

Maya draws her pistol, pressing it against my stomach. She looks me directly in the eyes, laughing.

“I wonder how many credits Archangel will pay for his beloved Commander to come home in one piece. My Shepard Clone rebuild is almost complete… he won’t know the difference when I’m done with her, and done with you.”

I push the gun away from my stomach, feeling almost physically sick.

“Do I want to know what you’re going to do with me when you’re finished making the Clones?” I ask.

“You really have no clue about Earth, do you?” she responds casually.

I should have known. I’d heard rumours that something was happening with Earth, but I never saw the pictures, the footage or the damage myself.  
After the way they had treated me on Earth and imprisoned me for bullshit crimes, I vowed I would never return. I would not fall for that bullshit again…  
But Earth had been my home before I signed up for everything I had. It was where I had grown up… I can’t just abandon it.

“What have you done to Earth?” I ask slowly, pronouncing each word carefully and serious, as it dawned on me just how much of a psychopath I was dealing with, after all these years.

“Want to find out? Come on then.” She puts her gun away

The two Cerberus soldiers from earlier come back and restrain me, taking me off the ship and we follow Maya.

I want my family. I have to be strong, but I cannot help but worry about what is to come.  
All I see when I close my eyes, are the faces of my son and my husband. I open my eyes, a small smile on my face.

This bitch is going to pay for what she’s done.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's official: Archangel is back

**Chapter 9  
Garrus**

Liara asks if we should contact Wrex and Grunt to help deal with Cerberus. Miranda opposes the idea, stating that the Krogans could cause serious damage to other hostages and I agree with her, saying that they will only be necessary when we take down Cerberus for good.  
Miranda suggests contacting Jacob Taylor, but I doubt he will want anything to do with Cerberus or any of us, after all he’s said and done and made it clear he’s done with being on the front lines, as he wanted to settle down.

James Vega? Maybe a good choice, we should also contact Dr Chakwas, if she hasn’t retired already. She’s the best Medic I know, and we all know she does better than any other Medic we’ve ever had.  
We have a team of people on the Normandy already, but it would be nice to see a few old faces.

It is clear our work is far from over, and I fear that Athena may need to come out of retirement.  
With everything that is going on, I worry that Demus will be targeted again and I do not want that to happen.  
I cannot let that happen.

We had dreams of a peaceful retirement, where we could raise our children. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.  
The world still needs us.

We all discuss what we should do, and try and formulate a plan. Liara tells me all what she knows and we try and find out what we can by reaching out to people with information.  
I say we should save as many lives as possible, whilst destroying the Headquarters once and for all – Miranda agrees, but says it is risky as we will then only have a limited amount of time to find Athena, get her and the hostages we find alive, to safety and get out of range of the blast in time.  
Liara and Oriana bring up the fact that we’re going to need to find a way to either make bombs, or find some and I laugh, because there is only one person I know who is very good at making bombs herself – Tali.

I do not want Demus to hear of our plans, so we will have to tell Tali about the plans later, when Demus is distracted.

I turn back to the bomb-making. We’re going to need materials, but Liara says she can use her contacts to get some of the stuff we need.  
I actually seem to forget just how powerful Liara is.  
Liara tells me that I will have to be the one to pick up the materials for the bombs, as The Shadow Broker’s identity can never be revealed.  
I’m more than happy to get what we need, hell I’ll even make the bomb myself if I have to, but not with Demus on board the Normandy.

I bring this up to the others; Miranda points out that whilst we negotiate the terms of getting Athena back with Maya, we can use this to distract her and Tali can make the bomb and set it ready, all we’ll need to do is get ready to haul our asses out of there before the bomb explodes.  
Easier said then done.

I tell Liara that she’ll join me and Miranda in distracting the Cerberus goons and extracting the hostages and finding Shepard, Tali will help with the bomb when we get to the Headquarters and Demus will stay on the ship with the rest of the crew. We all agree this is the best thing to do and we listen to Liara as she plans out the meeting to grab the bomb materials, and I decide it’s time to fully embrace my old Archangel past,

I don my old Archangel armour, it’s been repaired and had a few upgrades since the good old days when I took a missile to the face and it’ll do the job.

“It’s been years since you’ve worn that get-up, Garrus.” Liara comments. “Do you think this will work?”

“We don’t really have any other option Liara, and besides, Archangel may be a bit of a legend the mercs still tell and a forgotten one at that, when they see me, they’ll know I’m back with a vengeance, and they’ll start running. We’ll catch them of course, but it won’t hurt to scare them a little.” I hesitate, looking at the helmet I once wore.

So many memories. So many jobs I had done back then and so many people I’d pissed off.  
But they’d pissed me off and now it was time to bring Archangel back, to get the job done.  
They’d know I mean business.  
There might even be mercs that have no idea who I am – and that will all change very soon.

I look to Oriana, to Miranda and back to Liara.

“Let’s do this.” I say. 

Liara contacts Tali on our private line and sends a private document to a tablet so she can read the plans we have made, so Demus won’t hear what we’re up to. It would be quicker to tell her, but she has to keep Demus occupied.

Joker brings us to where we’re meeting The Shadow Broker’s contact, and I put on my helmet and leave the ship, which then flies away so we don’t give away who we really are.

The contact walks into my view, and freezes. It’s clear he knows who I am; who Archangel is.

“Archangel, I didn’t know you would be meeting me. I never got told…”

“I think it’s better if you don’t ask the questions you want to ask, alright? It’s better for the both of us.” I say, muffled voice through the helmet.

“I understand. Do you have the money?”

I send him the credits wirelessly and he hands over the materials.

“Is that it? Are we done?” The contact asks.

He obviously wants to leave, he is nervous about what I might do to him – and I tell him he is free to go.  
I watch him go and I know he will spread the word that Archangel is back. News like that travels fast, and maybe that is a good thing.  
They’ll know not to mess with me.

“You know Garrus, you really are scary when you’re angry.” Liara speaks up through the Omni-Tool once the guy is gone. “Just… Just know that everything is going to be okay.”

Whoever that agent tells, now thinks that Archangel works for The Shadow Broker. The two forces will be unstoppable, and I’ll let them think that way.  
Everyone keeps saying that things are going to be okay, that Athena will be okay but I can’t help but worry. I promised her that I would protect her, I love her, and she promised she would come back to me when the war was over. And…  
I’m tired of bullshit getting in the way of our happiness. Just once, I want things to go our way. Just once, without anybody telling us what we can and can’t do.  
But life is never that simple.

“At least we got the job done.” Is all I say, and tell Joker to bring the Normandy back.

We’ve got one job done at least, so now we can focus on infiltrating Cerberus Headquarters.  
I board The Normandy and hand the materials to Liara, when Tali tells me that Demus has fallen asleep.  
He’ll be out for the count for a couple of hours, so by the time we get Athena back, we'll be a family again

At least, I hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot easier to write than chapter 8, so thank you for sticking with me! I didn't think it would take as many chapters as this fic has, but there are plenty more chapters to come!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the time to rescue Athena is here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading

**Chapter 10  
Garrus (continued)**

I hesitate, my sniper gun in my hands. I don’t think this will be useful with close combat, so I reach for a pistol.  
The memories come flooding back, of the times Athena and I had spent together… how we had made love when nobody was watching, how we made love before I was called back to Palaven and before I could contact her again, she’d been arrested for working for Cerberus.

They didn’t understand. They didn’t listen, they were only worried about themselves… and nothing had changed since then.

How come that the Council never mentioned Earth to me before? Had they just abandoned it and hoped it would be forgotten?  
They are despicable, and it’s up to us once again, to take matters into our own hands and help Earth.  
It’ll take time, but we’re gonna need a whole team to take them down. But to rescue Athena? It’s fairly simple what we have to do.

Oriana tells me that she has a husband on Earth, fighting the good fight. But with what is going on, he won’t last long.  
I ask her why she came with Miranda, if her husband needs her. Oriana just tells me that she wanted to be with her sister and help us out.  
I ask if her husband has been good to her… she does not answer,  
I ask if he’s part of Cerberus, and she tells me she does not know. She tells me he could be.

Joker tells me we’re nearing Cerberus Headquarters, so everyone gathers for one last time to go over the final plan.  
This is it. The time is almost here to get my Athena back.

“Oriana.” I begin to say, before Miranda can cut in. “You will stay here and defend Demus. If they get to The Normandy, you and the other crew members on board will be the last line of defence, you got that?”

“I’ll do my best, Garrus.” Oriana responds.

I turn to Tali.

“Tali, we’ll clear out the Cerberus goons at the labs and get to Athena, during this, you will plant the bomb and we’ll have to run like hell to get out of there before the bomb explodes. This time, we don’t leave ANY of the Headquarters left standing.”

“I will do whatever you ask of me, Garrus. Anything to bring the Commander home.” she says.

Miranda doesn’t protest to any of this, just makes a comment about how we better hope this will work.

I don’t know what we’ll see, but I am ready to unleash my rage.

I’ll splatter the bastards’ blood across the walls before blowing the place to smithereens. I’ll look Maya Brooks in the eyes and ask her why she did this, pretending to care when I don’t… and then, when she thinks I’m weak, I’ll shoot her through the heart to make sure she stays dead.  
I have plans for what will happen, and how things go in my head. I know it’s the rage talking, but I can’t help but think about the dark side of my mind, where I just don’t give a damn about what happens to the others, just as long as Athena is okay.

I know its not normal to feel the way I am feeling… but I don’t know if I’s because I am scared. I am so damn scared the way I act might have major consequences, and it’ll hurt Athena.  
I’m scared of losing her again.

Turians aren’t allowed to get scared. At least, that was what was drilled into my head by my Father the moment I could hold a gun.  
Turians are strong, even the women. You shouldn’t let anything cloud your judgement and go by what’s right and what is best for the people – not judging things by your heart.

But I’ve been judging things with my heart since the very moment I met my Commander.  
What would she want me to do?

I think I already know.  
I’ve always known. I’ve always followed in her footsteps.

Commander Vakarian… the world would be an empty place without you.

We have lives to save.

I shake myself out of my daydream and grab some ammo, before Liara goes and gets her armour.  
I tell Miranda that there is spare armour for Oriana, so Oriana suits up.

“They haven’t noticed us, yet.” Joker tells us. “But, I doubt it will last forever.”

We’re not exactly a small ship. Anyone who knows the Normandy will know it’s one of the biggest ships in the galaxy.  
And we’re primed and ready to attack.

“Joker, take us in.” I say.

“Roger that. Garrus.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commander Vakarian, meet the new Clone

**Chapter 11  
Athena**

I’ve seen what has happened to Earth, and I am rendered speechless. Its burning up, even worse than when the Reapers attacked.

I watch as various different Cerberus agents are coming and going, doing different things and they all stop and watch as I am escorted through.  
I don’t see any slaves, I don’t see any experimentations going on. They must have been shipped to Earth, to do whatever Maya wanted them to do.

I have no idea what she has planned for Earth, but I know that when I am free and back on the Normandy, I will have to come out of retirement to save Earth.  
I’m four months pregnant, so I will have to deal with the problems with being on the battlefield whilst pregnant at a later time, but I know we’ll figure something out.  
I know the Council will be happy to have me back, but I will not keep quiet about the shit they’ve kept secret from me, from Garrus.

Garrus took my job so we could raise our son in peace, as Garrus wanted me to have some peace, and peace was not an option any more. Demus was going to have to deal with seeing his parents in action.  
I don’t want Demus to become damaged, like we are. We’ve seen some brutal shit in our past and he is almost ten years old. I don’t want him to wake up from nightmares, screaming at shit he remembers that has happened to any friend he might make.

My son. Mine and Garrus’ son deserves all the kindness in the galaxy, but fate is cruel. I WILL protect him, no matter what happens.

Maya smiles as we get to a laboratory, just before we get to where the Illusive Man’s seat and office is, where everything last kicked off, the last time I was here.  
“Are you ready to see her?” She asks, like I have a choice in the matter.

Somebody tells her that the Clone is ready, and I remember what happened to the last Clone.  
It feels so wrong to wear Cerberus armour, especially after the Alliance arrested me for my crime of working with Cerberus.  
I pointed out that they brought me back, which is what they seem grateful for, but they skip over that point if I bring it up in any conversation.

We watch the Clone Shepard open her eyes – they’re cold, lifeless… nothing like me.   
She looks like me, she’s had a few upgrades, there is even a slight bump to try and fool Garrus and the others into thinking she’s the real deal.

“You’ve been stalking me, haven’t you?” I say, disgusted with Maya.

“Oh I’m always watching you, Commander Vakarian. I’m always watching.” She pronounces ‘Commander Vakarian’ like she is repulsed by the idea I took a Turian’s last name. “When I’m done with you, I’ll even introduce myself to your son, maybe I’ll even see if we can clone him.”

“You’re not touching my boy!” I yell, wincing as I feel a pain in my side – a powerful kick from one of the twins.

She WANTS this reaction out of me. She knows what she is doing and she is loving every minute of it,  
A hand goes to my stomach as I try to soothe the twins; they’re clearly awake.

“Calm down, Shepard. We need you in a good state for what is coming next.” The Clone speaks to me directly as it wakes up.  
It sits up.

“The last time I had a Clone, I watched it fall from the Normandy to it’s death.” I tell the Clone.

“I know, I remember. I have all the last failure’s memories.” The Clone tells me, and it gets up from the table.

It’s armour is Cerberus Armour this time, not the N7 armour I usually wear. If the others see me in the Cerberus armour, they’ll know something is wrong, but if they see me AND the Clone in the armour, will they know who to shoot? Will they know who is who?

They’ve gotta know. We’ve dealt with the Clone before.

But if she’s received upgrades, that’ll make her harder to kill… and I don’t want Demus to watch what unfolds.  
But he’s gotta know what goes on with our jobs – he’s a smart boy, he has heard the stories….  
Oh, Demus… I miss you.

The Clone gets checked over and they tell Maya she is ready to be used.  
The Clone looks at me, smiling evilly.

Maya gives it their orders – to start testing it’s strength in one of the training facilities. Then, when the others arrive to get me back, it’s job is to try and win the others over… get up close, and kill them all.

This isn’t gonna work, I know they’ll figure out that I’m the real Commander and the fake is a fake… but what if she gets close enough to Demus?  
What if they leave me behind?

What if I’m shipped off to Earth, to become the face of this new Cerberus operation?

The two agents that have been behind me the entire time, leave with the Clone. 

I am dragged further in to the Headquarters, to watch Maya sit in the chair that the Illusive Man once sat at. And from here, I am told I will watch as Clone Commander Vakarian will infiltrate the Normandy, and begin the next stage of Maya’s plan.

I do not know much of what Maya’s plan is, only that it involves Earth and that’s about it. I think she expects me to watch everything unfold, and I will find out as we go, about what Maya has planned.  
She really is confident her plan will work.

I don’t know if it will. What if it does?

We won’t have to wait long – a voice on Maya’s Omni-Tool states that the Normandy has arrived.

Garrus is here. I can feel my heart flutter. I can only hope that they know where I am, where the true Commander Vakarian is.

“Sit back and relax, Commander. You’ll have the best view in the house of what goes on.” Maya says, bringing up all the cameras and their footage on one big screen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus and the team make their way through Cerberus Headquarters

**Chapter 12  
Garrus **

I check on Demus before I leave the Normandy – he seems to be asleep, so I leave him be. Oriana settles down at the table not far from the cabin, not wanting to disturb him so she pulls up something to read on a tablet she found lying around. 

Miranda, Liara and I disembark from the Normandy first, Liara vowing to help anyone that might be in trouble.  
We empty out the battlefield – blood splatters everywhere. Some of them die screaming, whilst others don’t even get the chance.  
I punch someone close to me, and ask them where I can find Athena – they laugh, and so I press my pistol to their temple and pull the trigger.

I don’t care for the blood all over me, it will be cleaned later. I move through the area, searching for others that may be hiding – but there aren’t any Cerberus soldiers left in this area, at least. 

It’s been at least half an hour since the fights began, and we have so much more ground to cover  
Liara can’t find anybody to save. There are no hostages here – well, except for Athena.

“Garrus, this way!” Miranda yells, as she takes the lead.

I follow her, and we scope out one of the labs. We find some information on what’s happening on Earth and Miranda transfers some of the documents to her Omni Tool to take back to the Normandy later. I scan the information too and we move on to another lab, Liara is not far behind us.

“I wonder where Brooks is?” Liara asks, looking around as she catches up

“Wherever she is, the Commander will be.” Miranda tells her and we all look around as we hear a familiar voice, amongst a couple.

“Where are they? Point me in their direction.”

It’s Athena. Athena is alright. Thank the stars.

I move faster than Miranda, who is talking to Tali over our private line, Miranda has no chance to tell me to slow down when she hears the Commander’s voice. Miranda tells Tali to stand by.

Liara follows me, and what we see stops us in our tracks – Athena is wearing Cerberus armour and she’s with the two agents that kidnapped her.  
She must see the shock in my face, as she starts to laugh.

“Hello, Garrus. Shocked to see me like this? Turns out they needed my help with what’s going on with Earth.”

“How so?” Liara asks before I can say anything

“You know the people need somebody to rescue them from what’s going on, Cerberus wants to help them. I want to help them.”

There are several things wrong with that last statement – the first being that Athena would never work for Cerberus again and whilst putting on the armour for protection is a good thing, we know the truth about everything else. Cerberus is the reason Earth is going to shit.  
If the Alliance catches wind that Athena is working with Cerberus, she’ll be arrested and tried again – and who knows how long they’ll lock her up for this time?

“Lower the guns, please. You have to understand that we got off to a bad start. You’ve already killed a lot of innocent people, you don’t want to kill anybody else now, do you?” The woman next to Athena speaks up.

The woman looks scarily like Jack. Except all of us know that she would rather die than let Cerberus touch her.  
She’d probably tear them apart herself if we let her, if Wrex and Grunt weren’t also in the vicinity at the time, if we recruit them all to our cause in the future. 

“It’s good to see you are safe, Athena.” I say, though it takes a long while for me to say it.

“I’ve been trying to reach you guys, my Omni-Tool may be broken. You should have said you were coming.”

Athena is lying. There was never any contact attempted between her and us.

Liara immediately knows that something is wrong with me, I can feel her get closer to me.

“Look at him, he’s relieved. You do know that we would have never harmed her, right? The Commander is worth a lot of credits. But she’s invaluable to you, clearly.” The man seems to mock us and I expect the woman to join in, but she doesn’t.

“I don’t understand… Commander, why are you working with Cerberus?” Miranda asks, visibly confused.

“They’ve shown me what’s happening to Earth, something needs to happen and you know the Council nor the Alliance will do anything about it.”

That’s half-true, at least. The Alliance will definitely be doing something about it, but may be overwhelmed. The Council on the other hand, do not give a flying fuck and have been hiding what’s been happening, for months. Who knows how long they really have been been on Earth.

Miranda must know what Athena and the two Cerberus agents are saying is bullshit, she knows Cerberus better than anybody I know. She’s been on Earth, she knows the situation there.

“I’ve missed you, Garrus. It’s clear our work is far from over, will you help me?” Athena asks. “Will you all help me?”

“We have some things to talk about, Commander. Clearly you need to rest or get checked out or…” Liara stutters, she doesn’t know what to say.

“I’m fine, look at me. There isn’t a scratch on me.” Athena motions to herself.

My hands are still holding on to the my pistol, and I raise the pistol. The other agents ‘ expressions change, but not Athena’s. It doesn’t phase her.

“Don’t raise your gun on the Commander, Garrus!” Liara begs.

Miranda and I look at each other, and I think we both know what is happening here. Before I can say something that will confirm our suspicions, Tali starts yelling at us over the comm link, something about Demus having escaped from the Normandy and I freeze.  
I want to go back for our son, he shouldn’t be here.

I look to Liara, and its clear as day she knows that something is very wrong with Athena, but she’s also concerned with what she’s just heard over the comms.

“How the hell did he get past Oriana?” Miranda hisses into the comms. 

“He was asleep!” I practically spit at Miranda, fearfully. “I thought Oriana would keep an eye on him.”

If Tali has seen him, he’s not that far away. 

“Is Demus on his way? May I see him before we continue our business here?” Athena asks.

She isn’t alarmed at all that her almost ten year old child is making his way across a bloodied battlefield. He’ll find us soon enough.  
We can’t set off the bomb, not with Demus on his way.

This isn’t my Athena. She’d be worried. I should shoot this fraud here and now, but I’m not risking a battle breaking out, when my son could be caught in the crossfire.

Demus appears, and before I have a chance to reprimand him for leaving the Normandy, he sees my gun and he sees what he thinks is his Mother.

“Mummy? What’s going on? Why are you with the bad guys?”

Oriana is not far behind him, apologising profusely.  
Tali says something over the comm links, but we cannot hear her properly. It’s like the signal is being blocked or something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Demus is in a lot of trouble.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena watches the battle rage on

**Chapter 13  
Athena**

The moment Demus appears, I start screaming. I turn my head to beg for Maya to stop what she’s doing, but she is laughing.

“Oh. What a great reaction, Commander. I didn’t think that a mere child would make you this weak, but here we are.”

“I understand that you want revenge, I understand you want to punish me for the past, but please, leave my son out of this!” 

Tears prick at my eyes.

I don’t like where this is going. I remember the boy from the Crucible. I’d been told he wasn’t real – he was just a figment of my imagination, as I told Liara and Garrus what had happened.  
I thought I’d gotten over those dreams, but those dreams were now rushing back.

I start panicking as it seems so real, and I cry out, holding my head whilst hoping the dreams will stop soon.  
When it is over, Maya grabs me by my hair and forces me to watch the screens.

“You’re going to watch as your Clone takes everything from you, just like how you took everything from me.”

I try and reach for the pistol in her holster, but she slaps me. 

Maya contacts the woman that looks like Jack and tells her to start the next phase of the plan. This is obviously on a private line so Garrus and the others do not hear.

The woman crouches down, and begins to ask Demus some questions, it looks like Garrus tells him not to answer.  
From what I can see, Oriana and Miranda are with Garrus, Liara and Miranda. I wonder where Tali is, but I’m sure I’ll find out.

“Listen, Maya.” I reach out for her from where I am sitting on the floor, her gun is now pressing into my back. “I will do whatever you ask, just let my family go.”

“That’s a pretty good offer, I must admit.. but I can’t take it, I’m afraid. We still have so much more to do, and you are still of use to me.” Maya doesn’t hesitate.

She sits back down, her pistol still aimed at me. We watch what unfolds.

The others are obviously negotiating with the Cerberus agents, and talking about Earth and what “I” plan to help them with – and that’s when Garrus’ grip on his pistol tightens and he threatens the agents, before turning the gun on the Clone.

“He won’t shoot. He knows that it will scar your son, and your son still thinks that the Clone is you.” Maya sits up, looking at the screen. “He will realise that if he wants to find you, he needs to keep my soldiers alive.”

A few minutes later, Demus turns to his Father and says something, which starts a shoot out.  
Liara leaps for Demus, throwing up a shield and dragging him behind cover,  
Miranda and Oriana both focus on the other agents – and I see Maya laugh as more agents of Cerberus come pouring in from ships that arrive as back up.  
Garrus is focusing on my Clone, going one-on-one with melee, no hesitation, no sign of stopping.

I wish we could hear what’s going on – but I hear the gunfire in the distance without the cameras. Garrus has never been one for one-on-one melee combat, but he has to wear that thing down somehow, before he gets in a good shot.  
Every now and then, Oriana will get in a good few shots at the Clone, but the bullets don’t even make it flinch.

Tali appears out of nowhere, grenades in hand. She throws a few into some of the groups of soldiers that drop out the sky from the ships, and there are a few explosions.  
She pulls out a bomb, and everyone freezes.

Liara’s mouth moves, as she covers Demus’ ears and I know that Tali won’t set it off just yet, not with Demus around.  
They’ve yet to find me, so I know they won’t set it off just yet.  
The Clone takes this hesitation to push Garrus away and shoot at him, to which he fires back.  
There is blood everywhere, from what I can see.

What must be going through Demus’ head? He must be so scared.  
The agents that brought me here have disappeared within the hordes of Cerberus agents that Maya has obviously called for backup, 

“Whilst we sit here and watch, Earth is dying. How many planets are you planning on taking over to get what you want?” I ask Maya, coldly.

“Who knows? The money I get for keeping you alive will be enough to keep destroying Earth. Soon, I’ll have total domination. I have agents all across different parts of the planet, updating me on what has been going on. They all answer to me, they’ll answer to a Clone of you. We’ll make sure they remember the Cerberus name.”

“You’re fucking crazy!” I realise I am wasting my breath. I think she already knows.

I try turning on my Omni-Tool, but Maya just laughs as nothing works.

Then, everything goes dark, and all I feel is pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Cliffhangers a lot, if you couldn't tell XD


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is reuinted... sorta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BIG chapter, so enjoy??

**Chapter 14  
Garrus**

I’m not one for Melee, but by the Gods, I am angry. I do not care. If bullets won’t stop this bitch that is masquerading as my wife, then what will?  
I’m not angry at my son, I understand that he wanted to see his mother, but now we’re all in danger and I need to protect him.

“What have you done with Athena?” I yell, as I shoot at her Clone that is refusing to die.

The bullets aren’t even scraping her flesh, her shields are up.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Vakarian?” Athena’s Clone yells over the gunfire.

Tali tells me to get away from the Clone, and I know she knows how to get somebody’s Shield down faster than anyone, so I retreat to a safe distance.  
No-one will dare shoot at Tali, nobody wants that bomb to go off.  
Tali somehow manages to hack away at the Clone’s shields, though it takes her some time and I go after the two agents that we saw kidnap Athena in the first place.

Liara is shooting the other troops and throwing them against the walls with her powers, knocking them out at best, if they aren’t dead.  
Demus is with her, he doesn’t look scared, he’s looking at me, and he nods as if to say everything is okay.

I shoot a few of the other Cerberus soldiers that come for me, and I shoot at the man that is cowering behind the woman.  
They know how angry I am, they’ve seen my rage.  
The bastard pleads for his life, and I aim my pistol, centring it so it’s in the middle of his face… and I fire.

The woman begs for her life in a similar manner– saying that she’ll call off the attack and take us to Athena.

“How do I know I can trust you?” I hiss.

She does exactly as she says she was going to do, when I hear Maya over the Omni Tool, calling for help, stating that Athena is in trouble.

“Take me to her.” I say weakly, aiming my pistol at her.

The woman turns, and before I can shoot, Oriana and Miranda beat me to it,  
She dies screaming, begging for mercy.

The Clone knows it has nowhere to go, and she is outnumbered. The next thing I know, Tali melee punches a hole in the Clone’s stomach, pulling out its core.  
The Clone falls lifeless and I look to Tali, genuinely impressed.

Tali sets the bomb’s timer for ten minutes, which will give us plenty of time to get Athena in and out of the base.  
Tali sets the bomb on one of the walls and then follows us.  
I don’t look back to Demus, I will talk with him later.  
I can hear Oriana ask if he’s hurt, and Demus says no – but he’s upset and worried about his Mother, which is understandable.

I look around us, at all the bodies and the blood and part of me regrets what we’ve done. We should have saved lives, not taken them away…  
Was this the only way things could have gone?

Miranda shows us the way to the Illusive Man’s office, and we see Maya hunched over Athena, who is on the floor, limp.

“What the hell happened?” I demand to know what’s going on, putting my pistol away

“I promise you I did nothing, we were waiting here for you but she collapsed. I can’t seem to wake her.” Maya replies, eyes wide. She knows mad I am, and that frightens her.

“She’s not lying Garrus, I can tell.” Miranda states.

Maya gives an explanation on what she wanted from us – what she planned with Earth but only tells us this after Miranda threatens to kill her.  
Liara shields Demus from seeing his Mother, saying that he could see her when we get back on the Normandy, and Demus demands that we get justice for what has happened.

Tali says something to him, and then Oriana and Tali take him back to the Normandy.

I bring my wife into my arms, begging her to wake up – but there is no response.  
Liara checks her over and finds that the stress of the situation has put all three – the twins and Athena, in danger and we need to get her to a hospital.

“Don’t leave me, Athena. Don’t you dare.” I cup her face.

Miranda states that Maya should pay for what she’s done, and should go back into custody, but that won’t help Earth  
We need to start wiping out everybody, but even if we wipe out Maya, she’ll still have her troops working around the clock, ruining Earth even more.  
But I don’t care about Maya any more. All I care about is my wife and our children.

“Please, all I wanted was some credits, and Shepard to help us… that’s all I wanted.” She was pleading, nervously.

We all knew she was lying.

She promises to give us any information we want, as long as she gets to live. She’s nothing more than a coward and I know that if Athena was conscious, the situation would have played out in Maya’s favour and we would have to listen to her ramble about her plans – but seeing as Athena was her bargaining tool and is now in danger, that plan is falling apart.

We don’t tell Maya about the bomb, and I tell Miranda to spare Maya, and she understands why.

“This won’t be the last you’ll hear of me! I’ll be back!” Maya stammers “I’ll have everything I need to do what I want… and Shepard will help me. She’ll see that I’m right. You’ll all see that I’m right! Earth is nothing without me, Cerberus needs me!”

I stand up with Athena in my arms, Liara close to me, checking Athena’s vitals. 

We leave, and make it back to the Normandy in time. I rush Athena to the Med Bay and tell Joker to take us to the Citadel.

I smile as just as Miranda receives all the information that Maya has, Cerberus Headquarters explodes  
Maya Brooks won’t be coming out of that alive.

Cerberus will scramble, trying to fight for leadership, but soon they’ll have to face the wrath of Commander Vakarian and her crew, when we come rescue Earth.  
If Commander Vakarian wakes up…

My Shepard. Oh, my Shepard.

I look over to where she is on one of the beds, stiff and silent. I don’t.. I don’t want to think of what else could have happened if Maya had gotten her way. Liara is checking her over, promising to do whatever she can to help to help her.

The Citadel doctors will know how much damage Maya has really done to Athena. Liara and I peel back the Cerberus uniform and discard of it, and that’s when we see all the blood.

“No.” I almost choke. “We can’t lose them.”

We find a single gunshot wound in Athena’s back, which Liara patches up. She manages to get the bullet out, and checks for any other wounds – there aren’t any more visible ones, at least.

“How did it get through her armour?” Liara whispers, but I hear her.

“Maybe Cerberus can’t afford good armour. They made her put it on to protect her, but look at her now.” I state, and I almost punch the wall.

I don’t know what to say, or do. It’s getting pretty late and there are other matters I need to attend to, though I want to stay with Athena.

“Daddy? Am I the cause of all of this?” a little voice comes from behind me. “You’re not mad at me, are you?” 

I turn around. Demus is standing there, tears in his eyes and reaching out for me. I walk out of the Med Bay, the doors closing behind us.  
I pick him up, bring him close to my chest and he hugs me.

“I’m not mad, son. But you scared me. What happened wasn’t your fault, but don’t you ever disobey me again, you understand?” I’m calm, I’m trying to stay strong for him.

“Mummy is in trouble, isn’t she?” Demus asks.

I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t know how to express the fear that I am feeling. And everything hurts.

“It’s okay Daddy, I know.” Demus hugs me again.

I slump against the wall, holding him.

“Daddy, you haven’t eaten, at least that’s what Auntie Tali tells me. Let’s go eat.” Demus pleads with me and I slowly nod.

I need to do something that isn’t worrying over Athena. I can feel hundreds of eyes upon me as we walk through the ship – other crew members are whispering, watching..

“Get back to work, leave Garrus alone!” I hear Miranda command, as she comes to meet us.

Everyone goes silent, and I thank her.

It’s tough being in charge of a situation like this.  
I put Demus down so he can walk with us and we proceed to get some food.  
I know Athena will be in good hands with Liara, but I don’t know what else to think about.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interesting chapter with Athena...

**Chapter 15  
Athena**

“You couldn’t save me. Nobody could save me”

The Catalyst is in front of me. The AI has taken the form of the boy I tried to save back in London. I’m in a dream, I know I am.   
Everything is warm, everything hurts and I’m at the vital choice again. To save Earth, merge all life or merge with the Reapers, or I can simply refuse and let the Reapers win.

Why am I back here? Why have my dreams taken me back to the moment where I thought I would die?.  
I remember. This is around the time I was pregnant with Demus – the doctors found me amongst the rubble and when they took me to London, that’s when they told me I was pregnant.  
It wasn’t long before the relays were fixed and I had to go to the Citadel for further treatment…. And that’s where Garrus finds me.

It’s my reality. It’s what has happened, so why am I back to THAT choice? Is my brain trying to make me feel guilty about killing EDI? I don’t want to think about those we’ve lost; I’ve tried to move on.

Then the AI morphs into a familiar figure – a Salarian.  
I know who this is. He’s dead.

“It had to be you, Shepard. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”

It’s Mordin.

I don’t want to think about his death. I want to push forwards to make the choice – it’ll be the same choice I made before – destroy the Reapers and win the war,  
I ignore what the AI is telling me; I don’t want to hear about how I could be making the wrong decision.  
I know what happens, I’ve lived through it. I want to get back to my family.

“Shepard, your boyfriend has an order for you: come back alive, it’d be an awfully empty galaxy without you.”

I turn my head – the AI has took the form of Garrus. It’s tormenting me. Garrus was with me when we pushed towards the Crucible, we’d told each other we loved each other and he was hauled off to safety, with Tali by his side.  
I thought I’d never see him again, but I survived.

I feel pain radiating in my stomach, and that’s when I remember Maya. She must have shot me, or something is going badly wrong.  
How do I get out of this dream? I need to get back to Garrus and my friends, I need to go home.

I have to make the choice again.

I approach the console, and I make the choice. I have to pray this works. Everything should go exactly how I remember, though I don’t want to relive this moment.

Everything explodes, and I am thrown backwards. I hit something and everything goes black.

I wake up, gasping for air, groaning in pain. Liara is by my side in an instant, telling me to stay calm.  
She calls for Garrus on her Omni-Tool, and he comes running almost immediately.

“You shouldn’t be awake.” He says

“Nice ‘Hello’ to you too. What happened?” I grin through the pain.

I see all the blood.

“No, I can’t…” I panic.

Garrus is by my side, taking my hand. Liara gives me some medication and some of the pain seems to go away.

“We’re getting you to the Citadel, Athena.” Garrus tells me.

I lay down, there is a pain in my back that goes away. Liara starts cleaning up the blood. 

“I can’t lose… the twins…” I try and say, but succumb to the medication’s sleep effects.

“You won’t.” is the last thing I hear Garrus say.

I wake up in a hospital and I groan.

“I’m sick of ending up in Hospitals…” I say.

“How do you think I feel?” I turn my head and Garrus is sitting in a chair, watching me.

I don’t know how long I’ve been out, I don’t exactly know anything that has happened.  
The last thing I remember is possibly being shot by Maya.

“I need you to tell me everything.” 

I feel movement, and I almost cry in relief. The twins are okay. I’m not in the crappy Cerberus armour.  
Garrus places a hand where I’ve put mine and he smiles, our foreheads touching.

“Maya’s gone. We blew up Cerberus Headquarters after getting her plans.” Garrus tells me.

I am told that I was shot in the back, and I am lucky to be alive. The stress of the situation put me and the twins in danger, but we’re safe now.  
Demus is okay, waiting in the waiting room to be let in to see me.  
I’m told how Maya begged for her life, and I tell Garrus everything she revealed to me – which to no surprise, is a lot different than how things actually went down.

“I’m going to have to come out of retirement, Garrus.” I state as a matter of fact “Nobody else is gonna do anything about Earth.”

Garrus doesn’t say anything, but sighs. He knows I’m right. Garrus and I kiss, but he pulls away when Liara walks through the door with Dr Chakwas.

“Hey! My favourite medics!” I grin.

“We need to talk about what happened, Commander.” Dr Chakwas says seriously. 

I’m going to get a talk about how this must never happen again. I just know it. I look to Garrus, who just crosses his arms.  
That’s when I notice he’s wearing his Archangel armour. I hadn’t noticed it when I watched my rescue party on the big screens Maya had pulled up.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demus has a turn to tell what's going on, from his POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is the finale!!!

**Chapter 16  
Demus**

Auntie Liara and the Doctor that knew Mummy finished talking to her, and left the room.   
I’m in the waiting room by myself, I’m a big boy. I can look after myself.

But I did a bad thing. I tried following Dad and his friends to find Mummy. And now…

I hear Liara talking about me to the lady at the desk at the front of the room, to keep an eye on me. There isn’t anybody else here but me and my family at the Hospital at the minute – Miranda and Oriana are sitting either side of me, waiting with me.   
Miranda is telling me that everything is going to be okay, she’s sure things will be okay.

I watch Liara leave, and get out of my seat, nervous.

“Hey, Demus. It’s okay… It’s gonna be okay…” Oriana keeps telling me.

We hear noise outside the hospital.

“Oh my god, news reporters have heard about Shepard. I better deal with them before Garrus does.” Miranda gets up and leaves.

The whole room goes silent. And then Daddy comes out into the hallway.

“Demus? Your mother is awake, son. Want to come say hi?” Dad holds out his hand and I take it, walking into the room.

Tears are about to fall.

Mummy is okay. She’s alive and she’s well and Daddy tells me my sisters are okay too.   
Daddy takes me to the bed and lifts me up, so I can hug Mummy.

“My boy… my special boy.” Mummy wipes away my tears and hugs me close as she can without hurting herself. “You gave me quite a scare.”

Dad mumbles under his breath and Mummy laughs, ignoring him.

“I didn’t mean to, Mummy.” I say honestly.

“I know, but you can’t do that again, you understand?” 

I know Mummy is being serious and I nod.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” We both say to each other at the same time. 

“I need to get out of this bed…” Mummy groans.

Daddy immediately says no, saying Mum needs to rest, when I point out that they have a dinner planned at a restaurant tonight.

“Oh, shit.” Mum curses and immediately apologises to me, so I tell her that Joker has been teaching me swear words, which gets a response out of Dad,

Dad mumbles again, talking about how he’s gonna need to talk to Joker, and I ask if that means I can’t fly the Normandy when I’m with Joker later.  
Dad looks at Mum and Mum explains the chat we had this morning and Dad breathes a sigh of relief.

As long as Mum takes it easy, she’s allowed to leave the hospital. So we go back to our house and find that the same people from the news are waiting for us.  
Tali comes out of nowhere and tells them to go away. 

Tali tells Dad that she’ll keep the news people off us, and tell us to rest.  
I go to my room, and pull out some of the food I had left in my bag. I’m hungry, so I eat.

Dad catches me in the middle of eating some food and asks where I got it from, so I tell him and he laughs.

Mum is on the sofa, watching the TV to know just exactly what is being said.   
Later that night, Uncle Joker comes into the apartment and convinces Dad and Mum to go for their meal.

He looks at me, and I start laughing.

“I heard you told your parents I taught you how to swear. How dare you rat me out!” He tells me off, but he’s clearly joking.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus and Athena talk about the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter! Thank you for reading, stick around for more entries in this series

**Chapter 17  
Athena**

The meal was lovely. But other things were on my mind that were plaguing what was supposed to be a romantic meal with my husband.  
I almost lost my son. I almost lost the twins and my family and friends and Earth is being destroyed once more, like the Reaper War never really ended.

I feel like our work will never truly be over.

I’m standing on the balcony of the restaurant, overlooking the rest of the Citadel. It’s so quiet… so peaceful for a change. You wouldn’t really think that what has happened today, has actually happened.

My dreams… I saw Mordin. Maybe he was right. I had to do what I could to protect the galaxy, someone else might have gotten it wrong.  
But why now, after so many years has that specific moment come back ro haunt me?  
I know that I made the right choice, it brought me up to where we are now.  
Why won’t my dreams just leave me be?

Are they trying to tell me something?

I tell Garrus about what happened, and he tells me I made the right choice. He reminds me that similar dreams have been happening for years and it’s my PTSD. He’s surprised that I’m not experiencing worse dreams, like before the war and during the war.  
He takes my hands, before cupping my face, telling me that everything will be okay.

“Earth needs us, Garrus. This is only the beginning. Retirement is out of the question, isn’t it?” I say.

“Sadly, retirement is out of the question for now. But it’ll be just like old times, and this time on a slightly lesser scale. Miranda and Oriana are talking to the Council for us, filling them in, but I doubt they will listen without your input. And I can’t have you at the front of the team, on the front lines risking it all. We have a family to think about.” Garrus is very vocal about the truth.

We kiss, and I rest my hands on his chest, smiling a little.

“We’ll think of something, Garrus Vakarian. We always do. But we’re going to need to get as many of our old team members back together. “

“Let’s just enjoy tonight, after everything that has happened. We can start thinking about the plan tomorrow…” Garrus kisses me again and almost sweeps me off my feet.

I’m safe, the twins are safe and Demus is safe. Maya Brooks is dead and so is the Clone version of me – but who knows what we’ll see on Earth.   
Time will only tell what will happen, and I know I will have to don my old armour again.  
Commander Vakarian is coming out of retirement.

“So, what was with the Archangel armour, huh? Where were you hiding that?” I asked, teasing my husband as we headed home.

I don’t get a response, but I can tell that Garrus is hiding the fact he wants to laugh.

“Long story, am I right?” I add.


End file.
